1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storage and display devices for storing documents at a construction site and which also permit display of a building permit and storage of other documents at the construction site.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many cities require building permits to be displayed and accessible to inspectors at construction sites. In addition to providing information concerning the basis for the permit, the document may have checkoff spaces for completion by various inspectors during the construction process. It is also convenient to be able to store a set of large format construction drawings at the work site for access by subcontractors, inspectors or the property owner during the construction process. Some jurisdictions require the builder's stamped and city-sealed copy of the plans be made accessible to the inspectors at the construction site. Due to their size, construction drawings are typically rolled into a cylindrical shape for storage.
A wide range of display systems have been developed to permit the weather resistant display of building permits on a construction site while permitting access by inspectors. Display devices have also been developed to store rolled construction documents at the construction job site in a weather resistant container for ready access during the construction process. Such display devices may also include structure for displaying building permits in conjunction with the rolled construction documents.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,373 discloses a combination building permit display device and rolled blueprint holder. The device includes a flat panel base member with a pocket formed from transparent plastic sheet material for receiving and displaying a building permit while protecting it from the elements. Rolled documents are stored in a cylindrical tube with a closed end and an open end. The rolled documents are inserted in the tube and then the tube is hung on the base member with the closed end at the top and the open end resting on a shelf to prevent the drawings from falling out. The tube does protect the rolled documents from the elements if properly used. However, if an inexperienced user hangs to tube with the open end up, the tube functions as a catch basin, collecting any precipitation and forming a pool of water waterlogging any documents positioned therein. In addition, it would appear difficult to hold the documents in the tube while trying to hang the tube upside down on the base member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,851 also provides a weather resistant display case for displaying construction permits and for storing rolled documents. The display case is formed from two halves, each having a semi-cylindrical recess near a hinge connecting the halves together. It is foreseen that users are likely to experience difficulty in trying to position and hold a rolled set of plans in the semi-cylindrical recess in the base member while trying to simultaneously close the front panel over the rolled plans without the plans uncoiling to the point that they are too large to fit in the mating recesses or fall out of the recess in the base member.
Another problem encountered with existing plan and permit boxes is where to mount the boxes. Existing boxes, including those discussed above, are generally adapted to be either nailed to a wall of the building under construction or nailed to a wooden stake to be driven into the ground. The ability to mount the box to a stake generally addresses the situation where the walls of the building have not yet been erected and there is no structure available yet to nail the box to. Wooden stakes however are not particularly convenient to use. Typically the installer has to bring a sledge hammer or the like to the site to drive the stake into the ground far enough so that it does not work its way out of the ground and fall over. The stakes are prone to break when driving them into the ground and the height of generally available wooden stakes positions the box mounted thereon to low for convenient access. It is also known to mount such boxes on larger wooden posts, such as 4 inch by 4 inch posts. However, installing such posts requires digging a hole and either setting the post in concrete or tamping the dirt around the post to secure it in place, requiring additional time and equipment.
There remains a need for an effective and easy to use apparatus for storing rolled construction drawings at a construction site which protects the documents from the elements and which may also provides weather resistant means for displaying of construction permits. There also remains a need for an improved system for mounting plan and permit boxes at a construction site.